Numerical Simulation of the Gulf Stream and the Deep Circulation |
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Authors: | Hyun-Chul Lee George L Mellor |
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Institution: | (1) AOS Program, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544-0710, U.S.A |
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Abstract: | The Gulf Stream system has been numerically simulated with relatively high resolution and realistic forcing. The surface fluxes
of the simulation were obtained from archives of calculations from the Eta-29 km model which is an National Center for Environment
Prediction (NCEP) operational atmospheric prediction model; synoptic fields are available every 3 hour. A comparison between
experiments with and without surface fluxes shows that the effect of the surface wind stress and heat fluxes on the Gulf Stream
path and separation is closely related to the intensification of deep circulations in the northern region. Additionally, the
separation of the Gulf Stream and the downslope movement of the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) are reproduced in the
model results. The model DWBC crosses under the Gulf Stream southeast of Cape Hatteras and then feeds the deep cyclonic recirculation
east of the Bahamas. The model successfully reproduces the cross-sectional vertical structures of the Gulf Stream, such as
the asymmetry of the velocity profile, and this structure is sustained along the downstream axis. The distribution of Root
Mean Square (RMS) elevation anomaly of the model shows that the eddy activity of the Gulf Stream is realistically reproduced
by the model physics. The entrainment of the upper layer slope current into the Gulf Stream occurs near cross-over; the converging
cross-stream flow is nearly barotropic.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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Keywords: | Ocean circulation numerical simulation Gulf Stream deep circulation |
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